Welcome my friends as we wander the path of prayer which is our pilgrimage along our spiritual journey.

Last time we reminded ourselves how much of a man of prayer was Jesus. Not only did he have an attitude of prayer all of the time, but he taught us about it with beautiful simplicity.

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
³ Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

Luke 11.1-4

You will notice it is slightly different in Matthew 6 

This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6.9-13

You will also notice that the pattern we use in church too is slightly different, with the doxology at the end. The prayer that we use reflects the practice of the church from very early years. The fact that different versions exist encourages us to see what Jesus was giving his disciples was a framework for prayer and not just a prayer to be recited by rote. The shape of the Lord’s Prayer – Worship, Intercession, Petition, gives us a pattern which I shall endeavour to explore.

Worship, contained in those first two lines, Our Father, In Heaven, Hallowed be your name.

For me the joy of understanding that this is something that we are doing together speaks volumes about fellowship, community, interdependence, family, shared responsibility and takes away from the idea of an individual egocentric relationship. 
God is Our Father, which makes us all his children. He is not any more My Father than he is Yours, but together we share the same beautiful and intimate relationship.
We fail in our understanding, and in our worship whenever we are judgmental about others who share that relationship.
Not only is it ‘Our’, but ‘Father.’ 

It sometimes sounds too formal when we know that Jesus uses the word ‘Abba’, a personal word closer to our ‘Daddy’ than ‘Father’. As God’s children by adoption, chosen therefore, he wants us to grow in our intimate relation with him.

Sadly the image of Father is not positive for everyone, however most of us can have a concept of what an ideal parent would be like even if our own experience falls short of this. Coming to know God as our Father, one who is trustworthy and genuinely cares for us can be a very healing experience.
For me, the image of ‘Daddy’ conjures up memories of me playing with my children on the floor, and them climbing all over me, and jumping off the sofa knowing that I would catch them. It is initially a feeling of play and trust, with an unconscious knowledge of dependence. It is all about joy.
As always, the more we think about relationships, the closer we can get, and we know that the way relationships are expressed changes over the years. I no longer roll about on the floor with my kids, but they still call me ‘Dadio’.

Although God invites us into this intimate relationship, he is also the one who is ‘In Heaven’.
There is an ‘Otherness’ about God, one that inspires Awe and Wonder and Reverence. Hallowed be your name.
It is our privilege to get this balance right. Closeness, Joyful, Playful, Dependent,  Intimacy on the one hand, with a sense of Mystery, Majesty, Power on the other. We never lose sight of God as Creator and Redeemer, who is worthy of our adoration and praise. 
I believe a true sense of Awe, keeps us from being too casual. When we get it right, we get lost in Wonder, Love and Praise.
Sometimes it is right to just sit in silence and take it in. Other times we will want to share our feelings and experience with others like we do when we point out something that is wondrous.

Let me conclude by quoting something inspired byWilliam Temple.

Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose – and all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self centredness which is our ego, and the cause of much stumbling.
( Adapted from Readings in St John’s Gospel)

 Next time – Intercession, until then Bless you, Bless you, Bless You,

Fr Marcus